Voltage generators having reduced or eliminated cross current

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described include voltage generators having reduced or eliminated cross current. Dynamic adjustment of a low or high threshold voltage used in a voltage generator is described. Use of a folded cascade amplifier in a voltage generator is also described.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to voltage generators. Thevoltage generators may find use in electronic devices, such as memorydevices.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices may operate using one or more supply voltages appliedto the device. In addition to applied supply voltages, electronicdevices may generate additional voltages, such as by boosting orotherwise altering applied supply voltages.

Memory devices may generate a voltage that may have a value between asupply voltage and ground. The generated voltage may be used for any ofa variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, being applied toone side of a capacitor used in a memory cell or being applied to adigit line used to address memory cells.

Voltages generated by electronic devices may be generated in a mannerdesigned to reduce the variability of the generated voltage. FIG. 1 is aschematic illustration of a conventional voltage generator configured togenerate a voltage VC2. The voltage generator 100 includes a pull downamplifier 105 and a pull up amplifier 110. The pull down amplifier 105receives the generated voltage VC2 at a first input and a high thresholdvoltage (‘High’) at a second input. The pull down amplifier 105 has anoutput coupled to the gate of a transistor 115. The pull up amplifier110 receives the generated voltage VC2 at a first input and a lowthreshold voltage (‘Low’) at a second input. The pull up amplifier 110has an output coupled to the gate of a transistor 120. The transistor120 is a p-FET transistor coupled between a supply voltage VCCX and thegenerated voltage VC2. The transistor 115 is an n-FET transistor coupledbetween the generated voltage VC2 and a ground reference voltage. Thegenerated voltage VC2 is accordingly generated at the drains of thetransistors 120 and 115.

The voltage generator 100 accordingly ensures that the generated voltageVC2 is maintained between the High and Low threshold voltages. If thevoltage VC2 falls below the low threshold voltage Low, the pull upamplifier 110 is configured to turn on the transistor 120 to pull VC2 upto the low threshold voltage. If the voltage VC2 rises above the highthreshold voltage High, the pull down amplifier 105 is configured toturn on the transistor 115 to pull VC2 down to the high thresholdvoltage. The voltage VC2 may, however, vary between the high and lowthreshold voltage values. The range between the high and low thresholdvoltage values may be referred to as ‘dead band.’

The high and low threshold voltage values may be generated in any of avariety of ways. FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a circuit forgenerating the high and low threshold voltages (‘High’ and ‘Low’) ofFIG. 1. A resistor divider 200 includes resistor 205, variable resistor210, and resistor 215. The resistors 205, 210, and 215 are coupled inseries between supply voltages Vcc and ground. The values of High andLow may be determined by setting or varying the value of the variableresistor 210.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a conventional voltage generatorconfigured to generate a voltage VC2.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a circuit for generating the highand low threshold voltages of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a voltage generator in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of another voltage generator inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of another voltage generatoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a portion of a memory according toan embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain details are set forth below to provide a sufficientunderstanding of embodiments of the invention. However, it will be clearto one skilled in the art that embodiments of the invention may bepracticed without various of these particular details. In someinstances, well-known circuits, control signals, timing protocols, andsoftware operations have not been shown in detail in order to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the described embodiments of the invention.

A conventional manner of generating a voltage in an electronic devicehas been described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. However, theconventional manner may experience undesirable cross current. Referringto FIG. 1, cross current may be generated and run from the power supplyVccx to ground when both the transistors 120 and 115 are turned on. Ashas been described above, the transistors 120 and 115 are generally notconfigured to be turned on at the same time. Generally, as was describedabove, the transistor 120 is configured to turn on when the voltage VC2falls below the low threshold voltage, while the transistor 115 is off.The transistor 115 is designed to be turned on when the voltage VC2increases above the high threshold voltage, while the transistor 120 isoff. However, due to mismatches introduced offset or othernon-idealities in the amplifiers 110 and 105, the transistors 120 and115 in practice may sometimes be on simultaneously. During those times,cross current is generated from Vccx to ground, through both thetransistors 120 and 115, which may be undesirable and consume excesspower. As transistor dimensions continue to shrink, the problem ofmismatch and cross current may increase. Further, bias currents used tooperate amplifiers such as the amplifiers 105 and 110 of FIG. 1 havebeen increasing to improve performance of the amplifier, such as toimprove the speed of the amplifier. The use of higher bias current mayalso worsen the problem of cross current generation, as the crosscurrent generated would also be higher.

Embodiments described below include voltage generators having reduced oreliminated cross current relative to a conventional voltage generatorsuch as the one described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Whilereduced or eliminated cross current may be an advantage of someembodiments described below, it is to be understood that not allembodiments may exhibit this advantage. The drawbacks of theconventional voltage generator described above, and the identificationof advantages of some embodiments are described herein for ease ofunderstanding, and are not intended to limit any of the describedembodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention include voltage generators having adynamically varying dead band. FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of avoltage generator 300 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The voltage generator 300 generates a voltage VC2 at anoutput node, which in FIG. 3 corresponds to the drains of transistors305 and 310. The transistor 305 is a p-FET transistor, while thetransistor 310 is an n-FET transistor. The transistors 305 and 310 arecoupled together at their drains between two supplies—Vccx and ground asshown in FIG. 3. Current through the transistor 305 is labeled Ipup inFIG. 3, while current through the transistor 310 is labeled Ipdn. Apulldown amplifier 315 has an output coupled to the gate of thetransistor 310. The amplifier 315 is provided with a feedback voltagecorresponding to VC2 at one input and a high threshold voltage, High, ata second input. The amplifier 315 is configured to turn on thetransistor 310 if the feedback voltage VC2 rises higher than the highthreshold voltage such that the output voltage VC2 is pulled down to thehigh threshold voltage. The operation of the pulldown amplifier 315 istherefore similar to the operation of the amplifier 105 described abovewith reference to FIG. 1.

Referring back to FIG. 3, a pullup amplifier 320 is also provided,having an output coupled to the gate of the transistor 305. Rather thancomparing VC2 and a low threshold voltage, as was the case in FIG. 1,however, the amplifier 320 is configured to make a comparison with adynamic low threshold voltage ‘LowShft’. As will be described, thedynamic low threshold voltage may change based on the current passedthrough the transistor 310. The voltage VC2, or a shifted version of thevoltage VC2 as will be described further below, is input into the pullupamplifier 320. The pullup amplifier 320 also receives the dynamic lowthreshold voltage LowShft at a second input. The pullup amplifier 320 isconfigured to turn on the transistor 305 when the voltage VC2, or ashifted version of the voltage VC2, falls below the LowShft voltage.

The LowShft voltage is generated based on the current passed through thetransistor 310, labeled Ipdn in FIG. 3. As Ipdn increases, the LowShftvoltage is configured to decrease. Accordingly, when the transistor 310is turned on, generating current Ipdn, and generally indicating thevoltage VC2 is above the high threshold voltage ‘High’, the LowShftvoltage may decrease, making it less likely that the amplifier 320 willactivate to turn on the transistor 305. Therefore it may be less likelythat both the transistors 305 and 310 are turned on simultaneously,reducing or eliminating cross current.

Many circuitry configurations may be used to generate a dynamic lowthreshold voltage LowShft, and one such configuration is shown in FIG.3. A transistor 330 has a gate coupled to the output of the pulldownamplifier 315 and the gate of the transistor 310. The transistor 330 maybe sized differently than the transistor 310, with a 1:K ratio shown inFIG. 3. In particular, the transistor 330 may have a smaller dimensionthan the transistor 310, such as a smaller channel dimension. The sourceof the transistor 330 is coupled to ground while the drain of thetransistor 330 is coupled to a feedback resistor 332. The feedbackresistor 332 is coupled to the input of the pullup amplifier 320configured to receive the LowShft threshold voltage. In this manner,when the amplifier 315 turns on the transistor 310, the transistor 330may also be turned on, generating a current flow labeled I3 through thefeedback resistor 332.

The drain of the transistor 330, coupled to the LowShft input of theamplifier 320, is also coupled to the drains of the transistors 340 and342. The sources of the transistors 340 and 342 are coupled to Vccx andground, respectively. A bias may be applied to the gate of thetransistor 340, generating a current I1 through the transistor 340. Alow threshold voltage ‘Low’ may be applied to the gate of the transistor342, generating a current I2 through the transistor 342. As the currentI3 increases when the transistor 330 is turned on, the current I2 maydecrease, as the current I1 has not changed and I1=I2+I3. The decreasingcurrent I2 may in turn cause the voltage Vc2Shft to decrease, decreasingthe threshold against which the VC2 voltage is compared to turn on theamplifier 320, and making it less likely the amplifier 320 will turn thetransistor 305 on during a same time the transistor 310 is on.

During times when the amplifier 330 does not turn the transistor 310 on,the transistor 330 may also not be on. Accordingly, no current may begenerated through the feedback resistor 332. The amplifier 320 may thenoperate in an analogous manner to the amplifier 110 of FIG. 1, comparingthe voltage VC2 to a low threshold voltage. However, note that the lowthreshold voltage is now applied to the gate of the transistor 342,instead of the input of the amplifier 320. When the current I3 issubstantially 0, the voltage at the input of the amplifier 320 will beLowShft, where LowShft is equal to the low threshold voltage Low plusthe gate-source voltage of the transistor 342. That is, the lowthreshold voltage provided to the amplifier 320 is shifted by V_(gs) ofthe transistor 342. Accordingly, the VC2 voltage may be shifted asimilar amount to maintain an accurate comparison. the transistors 350and 352 may be provided for this purpose. The drain of the transistor350 and the source of transistor 352 may be coupled together and toanother input of the amplifier 320. The drain of the transistor 350 iscoupled to the supply Vccx, and the gate of the transistor 350 coupledto the gate of the transistor 340 and a bias. The source of thetransistor 352 is coupled to ground and the gate of the transistor 352may receive the VC2 voltage from the output of the voltage generator300. The transistors 350 and 352 may have similar device properties tothose of 340 and 342, respectively. Accordingly, the feedback voltageprovided to the input of the amplifier, Vc2Shft, may be equal to VC2plus a gate-source voltage of the transistor 352. That is, the VC2voltage may be shifted a same amount as the low threshold voltage.

The ‘High’ and ‘Low’ threshold voltages may be generated in any suitablemanner, including the use of a resistor divider as shown above withreference to FIG. 2.

As has been described above with reference to FIG. 3, in someembodiments a low threshold voltage for comparison with the voltagegenerator output voltage may be dynamically adjusted lower during timeswhen a pulldown amplifier has turned on a transistor to pull the outputvoltage down. In other embodiments, the high threshold voltage may bedynamically adjusted higher during times when a pullup amplifier hasturned on a transistor to pull the output voltage up.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of another voltage generator inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The embodimentshown in FIG. 4 is configured to dynamically increase a high thresholdvoltage provided to a pulldown amplifier during a time a pullupamplifier is activating a transistor to raise the output voltage. Thepullup amplifier 405 of FIG. 4 is configured to activate the transistor410 when the feedback voltage VC2 falls below a low threshold voltage‘Low’. Turning the transistor 410 on generates a current Ipup and pullsthe voltage VC2 up to the low threshold voltage.

Pulldown amplifier 415 is coupled to the transistor 420, and configuredto turn on the transistor 420 when a feedback voltage, which may be ashifted version of the voltage VC2, has exceeded the dynamic highthreshold voltage HighShft. A transistor 425 has a gate coupled to theoutput of the pullup amplifier 405 and the gate of the transistor 410.Accordingly, when the pullup amplifier 405 turns on the transistor 410,it may also turn on the transistor 425, generating a current I3 throughthe transistor 425. The transistor 425 may be scaled smaller than thetransistor 410, with a 1:K ratio shown in FIG. 4.

The current I3 is coupled to a source of a transistor 440 through afeedback resistor 442. The high threshold voltage ‘High’ may be providedto the gate of the transistor 440. The transistor 440 may generate anamount of current I1 as shown. The transistor 440 may be coupled to atransistor 444 having a bias provided to its gate. Accordingly, thetransistor 444 may provide an amount of current I2. Since I2=I1+I3, asthe current I3 rises, and I2 stays the same, the current I1 maydecrease, causing an increase in the voltage at the source node—thevoltage ‘HighShft’. Accordingly, when the transistor 410 is turned on,the high threshold voltage applied to the pulldown amplifier 415 may beincreased.

In an analogous manner described above with reference to FIG. 3, it maybe desirable to also shift the output VC2 voltage to generate thefeedback voltage provided to the pulldown amplifier 415. Accordingly,the transistors 450 and 452 are provided. The transistor 450 receivesthe output VC2 voltage at its gate, and the feedback voltage VC2Shft isprovided at the source of the transistor 450. The transistor 452receives the bias at its gate, which is also coupled to the gate of thetransistor 444. In this manner, when the transistor 410 is not turnedon, and therefore substantially no current is passed through thefeedback resistor 442, both the High threshold voltage and the VC2voltage are shifted by V_(gs) of the transistors 440 and 450 beforebeing provided to the amplifier 415 for comparison.

The ‘High’ and ‘Low’ threshold voltages described above may be generatedin any suitable manner, including the use of a resistor divider as shownabove with reference to FIG. 2.

Embodiments described above may reduce or eliminate cross current in avoltage generator by dynamically increasing the dead band of the voltagegenerator—the difference between the high and low threshold voltages. Inother embodiments of the present invention, operation of one or moreamplifiers in the voltage generator may be modified to reduce oreliminate cross current.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of another voltage generator 500according to an embodiment of the present invention. The voltagegenerator 500 includes a pulldown amplifier 505 similar to the operationof the pulldown amplifiers described above. The pulldown amplifier 505receives a high threshold voltage ‘High’ at one input and a feedbackvoltage VC2 at another input. The pulldown amplifier 505 had an outputcoupled to the gate of the transistor 512 and the gate of the transistor510. When the feedback voltage VC2 increases above the high thresholdvoltage, the pulldown amplifier 505 turns on the transistor 510 to pullthe output voltage VC2 down to the high threshold voltage. Thetransistor 512, which may be smaller than the transistor 510, is alsoturned on to generate a current I3 through a feedback resistor 515.

The pullup and pulldown amplifiers described above have been implementedwith differential operational amplifiers. Rather than utilize twodifferential amplifiers, the voltage generator 500 implements a pullupamplifier using a folded cascade topology. In particular, a differentialpair of transistors 520, 522 are provided as a first stage of the foldedcascade amplifier 525. The transistor 520 receives a feedback voltageVC2 at its gate, while the transistor 522 receives a low thresholdvoltage at its gate. The transistors 520, 522 may be biased by thetransistor 524 coupled to the sources of the transistors 520 and 522 andprovided with a bias, Vbiasp1, at its gate. The bias, Vbiasp1, turns thetransistor 524 on to provide current to the differential pair oftransistors 520 and 522. Based on the difference between the feedbackvoltage VC2 and the threshold voltage Low, different amounts of currentmay be passed through the transistors 520 and 522.

The drains of the transistors 520 and 522 are coupled to respective legsof a cascade stage 540. Each leg of the cascade stage includes two biastransistors. The transistors 541, 542 are in the first leg and thetransistors 551, 552 are in the second leg. The gates of the transistors541 and 551 are coupled together and configured to receive a biasVbiasn2. The gates of the transistors 542 and 552 are coupled togetherand configured to receive a bias Vbiasn1. The drain of the transistor520 is coupled between the transistors 541 and 542, while the drain ofthe transistor 522 is coupled between the transistors 551 and 552. Inthis manner, current through the transistor 520, which depends in turnon the feedback voltage VC2, may be provided to the first leg of thecascade stage 540. Current through the transistor 522, which depends inturn on the low threshold voltage Low, may be provided to the second legof the cascade stage 540. A transistor 543 has a drain coupled to thesource of the transistor 542. The gate of the transistor 543 is coupledto the drain, such that the current I1 may set the gate voltage. Thegate of the transistor 543 is coupled to the gate of a transistor 553 inthe second leg of the cascade stage. The gate voltage and the currentthrough the transistor 553 may set the voltage at the output of thecascade stage, Vn2. The circuit is configured such that Vn2 may turn onthe transistor 511 when the feedback voltage VC2 is less than the lowthreshold voltage Low, to pull the output voltage VC2 up to the lowthreshold voltage.

When the transistor 510 is turned on, however, current I3 may flowthrough the resistor 515. This may increase the amount of current drawnthrough the transistor 543. As shown in FIG. 5, I1=I2+I3−I0, where I1 isa current through the transistor 543, I2 is a current through thetransistor 541, I3 is a current through the feedback resistor 515, andI0 is a current through the transistor 520. Since I0 and I2 generallymay not change as I3 changes, when I3 increases, I1 may also increase.An increased I1 current is analogous effect to increasing the feedbackvoltage VC2. Increasing I1 may lower the voltage Vn1 at the gates of thetransistors 543 and 553. The lowered Vn1 voltage may accordingly raisethe voltage Vn2 at the drain of the transistor 553 and gate of thetransistor 511. Raising Vn2 reduces the current through 511.Accordingly, increasing the current through the feedback resistor makesis less likely that the folded cascade amplifier will turn on thetransistor 511 during a time when the transistor 510 is on. As has beendescribed above, this may reduce or eliminate cross current.

The value of the feedback resistor 515 may be selected such that theamplifier remains stable. If the feedback resistor 515 is too small, thecurrent I3 may be large and dominate I1 such that the pullup amplifier525 fails to operate properly. Accordingly, the feedback resistor 515may be selected to be sufficiently large that the pullup amplifier 525maintains proper operation.

While the use of a folded cascade amplifier has been described above toimplement a pullup amplifier, in other embodiments, a folded cascadeamplifier may be used to implement a pulldown amplifier.

While the generation of a positive VC2 voltage has been described above,it is to be understood that other embodiments of the present inventionmay generate a negative VC2 voltage.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a portion of a memory 600according to an embodiment of the present invention. The memory 600includes an array 602 of memory cells, which may be, for example, DRAMmemory cells, SRAM memory cells, flash memory cells, or some other typeof memory cells. The memory cells may be arranged in rows and columns,or in any other arrangement. The memory system 600 includes a commanddecoder 606 that receives memory commands through a command bus 608 andgenerates corresponding control signals within the memory 600 to carryout various memory operations. The command decoder 606 responds tomemory commands applied to the command bus 608 to perform variousoperations on the memory array 602. For example, the command decoder 606is used to generate internal control signals to read data from and writedata to the memory array 602. Row and column address signals are appliedto the memory system 600 through an address bus 620 and provided to anaddress latch 610. The address latch then outputs a separate columnaddress and a separate row address.

The row and column addresses are provided by the address latch 610 to arow address decoder 622 and a column address decoder 628, respectively.The column address decoder 628 selects bit lines extending through thearray 602 corresponding to respective column addresses. The row addressdecoder 622 is connected to word line driver 624 that activatesrespective rows of memory cells in the array 602 corresponding toreceived row addresses. The selected data line (e.g., a bit line or bitlines) corresponding to a received column address are coupled to aread/write circuitry 630 to provide read data to a data output buffer634 via an input-output data bus 640. Write data are applied to thememory array 602 through a data input buffer 644 and the memory arrayread/write circuitry 630.

A clock signal generator 650 is configured to receive an external clocksignal and generate a synchronized internal clock. The clock signalgenerator 650 may include, for example, a DLL or PLL. The clock signalgenerator 650 may receive an external clock signal applied to the memorysystem 600 and may generate a synchronized internal clock signal whichmay be supplied to the command decoder 606, address latch 610, and/orinput buffer 644 to facilitate the latching of command, address, anddata signals in accordance with the external clock.

A voltage generator 660 is configured to receive a supply and generate avoltage VC2. The voltage generator 660 may be implemented usingembodiments of the present invention, such as by using one or more ofthe voltage generators 300, 400, 500, or 600 described above. The supplyvoltage may be, for example, Vccx. The generated VC2 voltage may beprovided to various portions of the memory 600. For example, the VC2voltage may be provided to one or more cells of the memory array 602.The VC2 voltage may be applied to a plate of a capacitor in the memorycell to improve the performance of the memory cell. For example, the VC2voltage may be ½ of a supply voltage Vcc or lower in some embodiments.By applying the VC2 voltage on one side of the capacitor, while theother side is coupled to a supply, such as ground or Vcc, voltage drifton the capacitor may be reduced. The VC2 voltage may instead oradditionally be provided to digitlines, such as word lines coupled tothe word line driver 624.

The memory shown in FIG. 6 may be implemented in any of a variety ofproducts employing processors and memory including for example cameras,phones, wireless devices, displays, chip sets, set top boxes, gamingsystems, vehicles, and appliances. Resulting devices employing thememory system may benefit from the embodiments voltage generatorsdescribed above to perform their ultimate user function.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specificembodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, various modifications may be made without deviating fromthe spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A voltage generator comprising: a first transistor coupled between afirst supply and an output node; a second transistor coupled between asecond supply and the output node; a first amplifier having an outputcoupled to a gate of the first transistor, a first input configured toreceive a feedback voltage based, at least in part, on a voltage at theoutput node, and a second input configured to receive a low thresholdvoltage, wherein the first amplifier is configured to turn on the firsttransistor when the feedback voltage is lower than the low thresholdvoltage; a second amplifier having an output coupled to a gate of thesecond transistor, a first input configured to receive a feedbackvoltage based, at least in part, on the voltage at the output node, anda second input configured to receive a high threshold voltage, whereinthe second amplifier is configured to turn on the second transistor whenthe feedback voltage is higher than the high threshold voltage; andcircuitry coupled to the first or second amplifier and configured toeither: dynamically adjust the low threshold voltage during at least aportion of time the second transistor is on; or dynamically adjust thehigh threshold voltage during at least a portion of time the firsttransistor is on.
 2. The voltage generator of claim 1, wherein the firstamplifier comprises a pullup amplifier configured to pull a voltage atthe output node up to the low threshold voltage.
 3. The voltagegenerator of claim 1, wherein the second amplifier comprises a pulldownamplifier configured to pull a voltage at the output node down to thehigh threshold voltage.
 4. The voltage generator of claim 1, wherein thecircuitry coupled to the first or second amplifier is configured todynamically adjust the low or high threshold voltage, based, at least inpart, on a current through the first or second transistor, respectively.5. The voltage generator of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is coupled tothe first amplifier and configured to dynamically adjust the lowthreshold voltage during at last a portion of time the second transistoris on.
 6. The voltage generator of claim 5, wherein the circuitry isconfigured to decrease the low threshold voltage responsive toincreasing current through the second transistor.
 7. The voltagegenerator of claim 5, wherein the circuitry comprises a third transistorhaving a gate coupled to the output of the second amplifier and the gateof the second transistor, wherein the third transistor has a smallerdimension than the second transistor.
 8. The voltage generator of claim7, wherein the circuitry comprises a feedback resistor coupled betweenthe third transistor and the second input of the first amplifier.
 9. Thevoltage generator of claim 8, wherein the circuitry further comprises: afourth transistor coupled to the second input of the first amplifier,wherein the fourth transistor is configured to receive a bias at itsgate to turn the fourth transistor on; and a fifth transistor coupled tothe second input of the first amplifier, wherein the fifth transistor isconfigured to receive an initial low threshold voltage at its gate, andwherein current through the fifth transistor is configured to varyresponsive to changes in current through the third transistor andfeedback resistor.
 10. The voltage generator of claim 9, furthercomprising circuitry configured to generate the feedback voltagecomprising: a sixth transistor coupled to the first input of the secondamplifier, wherein the sixth transistor is configured to receive thevoltage at the output node and generate the feedback voltage at a sourceor drain of the sixth transistor.
 11. The voltage generator of claim 1,wherein the circuitry is coupled to the second amplifier and configuredto dynamically adjust the high threshold voltage during at last aportion of time the first transistor is on.
 12. The voltage generator ofclaim 11, wherein the circuitry is configured to increase the highthreshold voltage responsive to increasing current through the firsttransistor.
 13. The voltage generator of claim 11, wherein the circuitrycomprises a third transistor having a gate coupled to the output of thefirst amplifier and the gate of the first transistor, wherein the thirdtransistor has a smaller dimension than the first transistor.
 14. Thevoltage generator of claim 13, wherein the circuitry comprises afeedback resistor coupled between the third transistor and the secondinput of the second amplifier.
 15. The voltage generator of claim 14,wherein the circuitry further comprises: a fourth transistor coupled tothe second input of the second amplifier, wherein the fourth transistoris configured to receive a bias at its gate to turn the fourthtransistor on; and a fifth transistor coupled to the second input of thesecond amplifier, wherein the fifth transistor is configured to receivean initial high threshold voltage at its gate, and wherein currentthrough the fifth transistor is configured to vary responsive to changesin current through the third transistor and feedback resistor.
 16. Thevoltage generator of claim 15, further comprising circuitry configuredto generate the feedback voltage comprising: a sixth transistor coupledto the first input of the first amplifier, wherein the sixth transistoris configured to receive the voltage at the output node and generate thefeedback voltage at a source or drain of the sixth transistor.
 17. Avoltage generator comprising: a first transistor coupled between a firstsupply and an output node; a second transistor coupled between a secondsupply and the output node; a first amplifier having an output coupledto a gate of the first transistor, a first input configured to receive afeedback voltage based, at least in part, on a voltage at the outputnode, and a second input configured to receive a low threshold voltage,wherein the first amplifier is configured to turn on the firsttransistor when the feedback voltage is lower than the low thresholdvoltage; a second amplifier having an output coupled to a gate of thesecond transistor, a first input configured to receive a feedbackvoltage based, at least in part, on the voltage at the output node, anda second input configured to receive a high threshold voltage, whereinthe second amplifier is configured to turn on the second transistor whenthe feedback voltage is higher than the high threshold voltage; a thirdtransistor having a gate coupled to the output of the second amplifierand the gate of the second transistor, wherein the second amplifier isfurther configured to turn on the third transistor when the feedbackvoltage is higher than the high threshold voltage; and wherein the firstamplifier comprises a folded cascade amplifier including: a differentialpair of transistors including a fourth and fifth transistor, wherein thefourth transistor is configured to receive the feedback voltage at agate of the fourth transistor, and wherein the fifth transistor isconfigured to receive the low threshold voltage at a gate of the fifthtransistor; a cascade stage coupled to the differential pair oftransistors and the gate of the first transistor; and a feedbackresistor coupled to the differential pair of transistors and the thirdtransistor, wherein the feedback resistor and third transistor areconfigured to reduce an amount of current in the cascade stage during atime when the second transistor is turned on.
 18. The voltage generatorof claim 17, wherein the third transistor has a smaller dimension thanthe second transistor.
 19. The voltage generator of claim 17, whereinthe feedback resistor is sufficiently large to provide stable operationof the folded cascade amplifier.
 20. The voltage generator of claim 17,wherein the fourth transistor is configured to provide current to thecascade stage.
 21. The voltage generator of claim 17, wherein thecascade stage includes a sixth transistor having a drain coupled to thegate of the first transistor, and wherein an increase in current throughthe feedback resistor is configured to increase a voltage at the drainof the sixth transistor.
 22. A method for generating an output voltagecomprising: comparing a feedback voltage based, at least in part, on theoutput voltage with a low threshold voltage; comparing the feedbackvoltage with a high threshold voltage; if the feedback voltage is lowerthan the low threshold voltage, turning on a first transistor with apullup amplifier to raise the output voltage; if the feedback voltage ishigher than the high threshold voltage, turning on a second transistorwith a pulldown amplifier to lower the output voltage; and dynamicallyadjusting either the high threshold voltage during a time the firsttransistor is turned on or the low threshold voltage during a time thesecond transistor is turned on.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein theact of dynamically adjusting comprises dynamically adjusting the highthreshold voltage based on current through the first transistor.
 24. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the act of dynamically adjusting comprisesdynamically adjusting the low threshold voltage based on current throughthe second transistor.
 25. The method of claim 22, further comprisingshifting the output voltage to generate the feedback voltage.
 26. Amethod for generating an output voltage comprising comparing a feedbackvoltage based, at least in part, on the output voltage with a lowthreshold voltage using a folded cascade amplifier; comparing thefeedback voltage with a high threshold voltage; if the feedback voltageis lower than the low threshold voltage, turning on a first transistorwith the folded cascade amplifier to raise the output voltage; and ifthe feedback voltage is higher than the high threshold voltage, turningon a second transistor with the pulldown amplifier to lower the outputvoltage and reducing an amount of current provided to a cascade stage ofthe folded cascade amplifier.
 27. The method of claim 26, furthercomprising increasing a voltage applied to a gate of the firsttransistor by the folded cascade amplifier.
 28. The method of claim 26,wherein said reducing an amount of current provided to a cascade stagecomprises generating current through a feedback resistor coupled to aninput of the cascade stage.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein thefolded cascade amplifier further comprises a differential pair oftransistors, and wherein the feedback resistor is further coupled to oneof the differential pair of transistors.